U.S. Places Troops on Alert for Possible NATO Deployment Near Ukraine; NATO Puts Forces On Standby, Deploys More Jets & Ships – Russia Responds With 20 Warships In Baltic; U.S Aircraft Carrier Strike Group Heads for Mediterranean amid Russia Threats, and related stories

U.S. places troops on alert for possible NATO deployment near Ukraine:

The Pentagon is ordering about 8,500 U.S. military personnel to prepare for a possible deployment to Eastern Europe as Russia continues adding additional troops to its forces arrayed along the border with Ukraine.

The bulk of the American troops would be assigned to the NATO response force, which comprises about 40,000 international personnel, in the event the unit is activated, officials with the Department of Defense said.

The alert is the latest sign of brinkmanship in the region, as the U.S. and its allies try to head off a Russian move against Ukraine. Russia has reportedly assembled over 100,000 troops and weaponry on the border with its neighbor even while insisting it has no plans to invade.

“No decisions to deploy have been made. This is about getting units on an advanced heightened alert,” chief Pentagon spokesman John Kirby told reporters on Monday.

Pentagon officials declined to say which units would be told to prepare for possible deployment, saying they are only now getting their orders. “We wouldn’t want to get out ahead of that notification process,” Mr. Kirby said. —>READ MORE HERE

NATO Puts Forces On Standby, Deploys More Jets & Ships – Russia Responds With 20 Warships In Baltic:

On Monday NATO announced it has put its forces on “standby” while initiating deployment of additional ships and fighter jets to Eastern Europe. “NATO will continue to take all necessary measures to protect and defend all Allies, including by reinforcing the eastern part of the Alliance,” NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said in a statement.

“We will always respond to any deterioration of our security environment, including through strengthening our collective defense,” Stoltenberg added, while discussing the ongoing Russia-Ukraine showdown, which the Kremlin has denounced as hype and based on false allegations it’s planning an invasion. The Kremlin has further reiterated its plea for Western countries to stop the “hysteria”, which itself is hyping the crisis further. One NATO diplomat has been cited in reports Monday saying the Biden administration is mulling a move to transfer some troops from Western Europe to Eastern Europe in the coming weeks.

But the Western allies are also pointing to the additional Russian military units now deployed to Belarus in preparation for the announced joint war games to be held there next month. “We are reaching the point where continuous Russian and Belarusian military buildup in Europe needs to be addressed by appropriate NATO countermeasures,” Latvia’s Foreign Affairs minister Edgars Rinkēvič stated Monday.

In its official statement, NATO headquarters detailed which assets that European alliance members have begun to send toward the region, including to the Baltic Sea and Eastern Europe: —>READ MORE HERE

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